SAFETY FIRST! I get to plan my qraduation jump but I don't want to do something stuiped and get me or others hurt. (Not like my instructors would let that happen anyways). I think at least 2 intructors are going to jump with me and the possibility of a couple D license jumpers (Lee if you read this I hope your are one of them!) I was wondering if you guys/gals out in DZ land could share some of your graduation dive flows with me. Now I know every one out there is going to say we don't know your skill level so we can't tell you anything. So I will clear the air by saying what ever I plan will be reviewed by my instructors first! This is just to give me some ideas so I can plan something cool! 6 jumps until I graduateBLUE SKY'S Jason

Since you want to be safe and make sure nobody gets hurt, stay away from those tubes. Half the tubes i've ever seen ended up with somebody bleeding. They are fun, but not the safest of jumps.

Fruit loops are fun and pretty safe, just don't do them at break off time! I learned that lesson the hard way!

I like to limit grad jumps to 4 or less. It's a nice safe group size, and the formations out there make it easy to design a fun dive.

I have attached my favorite grad jump. It is from the 4-way competitions, blocks 6 and 21. These blocks are fun piece turns and the stardian exit is very easy exit. You'll impress your instructors when you whip out the color coded drawing and show some knowledge of 4-way.

Isn't that a little advanced for someone with 25-ish jumps? Verticals on a Stardian are a bit serious...

My thoughts would tend towards something less serious and more fun. A horny gorilla exit perchance?

WHOA, who said anything about verticals? I just used that dive because it involves turning pieces. I've got 700 jumps and my team doesn't do vertical moves. Unless you're on a team averaging over 10 points, verticals are a not needed. Just turn the pieces normally.

Piece turns are a blast, and they don't require the graduate to really do anything other than fly stable and keep eye contact. As long as they fly stable, somebody else is whipping them around the sky the whole jump. TONS OF FUN!

You start off saying SAFETY FIRST, then you mock someone who expresses a safety concern. Not even 20 jumps and you're already blowing off safety concerns. Interesting.

Do you think an instructor has ever taken a graduate up on a jump that was unsafe for his/her skill level? Of course they have. If that happens, you have to be willing to say no thanks. You are responsible for your own saftey. If you are not comfortable with a jump, get off of it, regardless of what your instructor says. That's not just on this jump, it's on every jump you make after your last student jump. I know guys with 3000 jumps who routinely pull off jumps over safety concerns.

Hopefully your instructor will disuade you from specialty jump like a tube or a horny gorilla. Since I don't know them, I'm not going to take the chance that you get the one guys says "sure, why not". I'm hereto let you know that those may not safe grad jumps.

Even a sit train is inappropriate for a grad jump. If your instructor is an experienced freeflier, he probably won't see a problem with it. I say wait until you prove yourself a capable belly flyer before trying something like that.

Drew, I would be interested to know what you think is so inherently dangerous about tube jumps? (We are thinking along the same lines right? - i.e not a freefly tube) In my personal opinion a 2-way tube, providing it is briefed correctly and practiced on the ground, is just as safe as any 2-way linked exit.

Of all the tubes, the two person tube is the safest. There are fewer limbs to worry about and it won't spin as fast.

The main issue with a tube is when it falls apart. It blows apart because of the forces generated by the spin. When that happens you have no control over where you go. Since the tube is built with your knees and feet close to my face, the odds of me getting smacked in the head is much higher than normal. Ever been kicked hard enough to get blurry vision? how about landing when your goggles are covered in blood from kicked in the nose? It is scary shit.

When the tube blows up you've been spinning and flipping, you're totally disoriented and unstable. It takes time for even the most experienced jumper to get back to stable. All the time you're getting stable and stopping the spin, you are losing altitude fast. You tend to forget about altitude awareness while you get stable. The more jumps you have, the smaller this concerns gets...you have better control in the air.

Even with a 2-way, the exit is awkward out the door. Unless you're in an Casa or skyvan...those are pretty easy. The exit of a tube out of a 206 looks like a hazard. I've seen people hit the door rolling out of an otter, so the small door of a 206 is gonna be wild. I'm sure it's possible, but it's gotta take a few tries to get it right.

The tube falls fast, very fast. Your normal sense of time in freefall is gone. It's easy to lose altitude awareness. Because of the grips you take, I've seen a couple guys who couldn't see the altimeter on a tube...so that's a problem.

Another issue is with the gear. I've seen at more than enough tubes end when someone has a premature deployment. Talk about dangerous! Make sure that BOC pouch is tight and the riser covers are in good shape. watch your altimeter, i've know a coupel guys who have lost those on tubes. Double know your shoelaces..shoes come off pretty easy at that speed.

There are some really fun things we can do in the sky, there is no need to do them all right away. There is still a lot to learn. Basic skills like side slides, center turns, fall rate control, docking on a formation, piece turns, burble hops...plenty of skills to master. Leave the unstable, out of control spinning stuff for the people that have learned the basics.

Graduation jump: do you mean your "sign off" dive? If so, I don't believe you can jump with anyone who doesn't hold an Instructor rating (D license is not enough), as you technically do not have your "A" yet. I may be wrong though.

You start off saying SAFETY FIRST, then you mock someone who expresses a safety concern. Not even 20 jumps and you're already blowing off safety concerns. Interesting.

Wow it never fails, when I say something it is taken the wrong way. Safety is my primary concern and I do not blow it off! I was just referring to the way people get into heated discussions regarding safety, and most of the time it is warranted. That’s why I like this place because you can get a lot of input and then analyze it with a trusted instructor/jumper and determine if it safe or the right thing to do. Anyone on here I would hope would take all info from the forums and discuss it with others at there DZ prior to putting it into practical application. Otherwise it would be irresponsible and reckless of that person reading anything within this forum to take what they read and just run out and do it!. I got into this sport because it is fun not because I have a death wish, safety and rational thought are the only things that will keep you alive in this sport. Safety is never dismissed EVER!!!!

With that cleared up thank you for your concern. I really wanted to focus on the grad jumps that people have already done. Which hopefully were safe, fun and successful. Obviously being a student I’m not doing some radical dive above my ability levels, my instructors and myself would not allow it.

Teams going to Nationals and competing at the upper levels will do verticals on many of the blocks. So if the video clips you've seen are Majik, Airspeed, the Knights, etc...you will certainly see verts. since most of us aren't as good as those guys, we don't mess with verts.

Going vertical is cool, but if you miss the catch at the end, they whole dive goes to crap. It's not worth the risk to the average team. In the Midwest Skydiving League we have ten teams this year, there is 1 that MIGHT try vertical manuevers...and many people think they are nuts for doing it.

The non-vert move is pretty fast if you do it right. If you're interested in that, try asking about it in RW forum. There are some pretty team guys in there that can explain how to turn those pieces. Otherwise, PM me and i'll explain it.

Great to hear you are about to graduate! Take the advice you get here seriously, especially from my buddy Drew. There is no need for you to be doing a train exit, those can get pretty messy and put everyone on different levels. That is more of a two person thing and not a good grad dive.